Elixirs on shelves
make me sociable — they say
None, as ground coffee.
Tag: coffee
A Match Like None Other
There are plenty of things that go well together. Like pie and pecans. Like bread and butter, like chocolate and milk, or bagels and cream.
But no matter how many decadent things you put together, there’s one pair that beats them all: early mornings and coffee.
For me, sunrises are incomplete without a cup of my favourite nourishment. Sometimes it’s tea and many times it’s coffee. No matter which, an empty cup reflecting the morning sunshine fuels my soul while I bask in its warmth.
A Coffee Date to Cherish
Nothing beats the streaming sun on a cold November morning, even before you’ve sipped your first cup of coffee. So it was in one if the most popular coffee houses in Pondicherry: The Lé Café.
There are fancier and pricier coffee shops in Pondy, but this one’s always close to my heart. It overlooks the beach, grandest attraction of Pondicherry. The ambience of the cafe is mesmerising, during the sunrises and the sunsets, in particular.
I was glad to be there, staring at the sun and sipping my Cortado.
A Chocolate Haven
Call me old fashioned but I fancy chocolate over any other fancy flavours. Whether it’s a hot drink or an iced treat, I’d always go for chocolate. And no matter how much of mint, white chocolate chips, slivered nuts, or trickles of orange you blend with it, plain chocolate (coated with chocolate) has an unmatched taste of its own.
That’s why I felt like stepping into paradise when I stepped into Zuka. It’s a cafe in Pondicherry that celebrates chocolate as much as I do. Even as you walk towards the entrance, a whiff of fresh chocolate reaches out to you, teasing your most determined dietary restriction.
Well, that may be an exaggeration, but you get the idea.
Stamped on the door was a seal of their brand, in an unsurprising shade of chocolate. And on the inside, they display a shameless amount of chocolate treats, pastries, and cakes. From flavoured tarts to dark-nut truffles, marbled candy to marvelling cakes, every inch of the cafe’s offering reeks chocolate.
It was beautiful.
In various shapes and colours, they sell shortcuts to diabetes. All around me were cars, bunnies, chunks, disks, and brownies—all of them chocolate. And as if that wasn’t enough, there were even melting pots of chocolate. I couldn’t have been happier.
And for the caffeine addict in me, they even had chocolate-espresso mousse, topped with a coffee bean made of chocolate. And to go with that, a coffee-flavoured cake, with a coating of chocolate goodness.
The place wasn’t large. But it was cosy. As soon as you walk in, you’d know you want to grab a chair and spend all day staring at the goodies behind the glass. From its plaided walls to its polished posters, the cafe would’ve made anyone liven up their moods and lighten their wallets. Such artistic interior with everything paying homage to a miracle bean.
I had found paradise in that little cafe. And to add chocolate to chocolate, they seemed to agree with what I profess:
Zuka has made it to my list. The next time I’m in town—heck, I’d go into town just for this place.
At Peace
Whether it had been a long day at work or a longer day with no work, there’s one thing that always calms my nerves. It’s coffee, of course.
But when you’re at the Lé Café in Pondicherry, the coffee arrives just as the sun begins to rise. Now that’s more than relaxing. It’s divine peace.
The Chaos Within 